In my May blog post on the generalized regression of human rights in the Middle East and North Africa, I concluded by promising a follow up blog post on what role the global Church can play to counter this regression. Last week, I began a reflection on how churches that feel called to serve the Middle East can play a role – rather than what role to play. In today’s installment of my post, I will discuss the importance of listening, visiting and learning in relation to Israel and Palestine – an enduring conflict and a pivotal region.

Too often, pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian, pro-peace, or even pro-Jesus descriptors, function merely as shibboleths. This kind of lazy sloganeering does not address any of the real and vital issues. It takes a multilayered complex situation and makes it neat and tidy. Too often this kind of approach is not the fruit of critical thinking and engagement but rather a simplistic way to avoid thinking about the issues. To do so, is an insult to God’s image bearers living in the region dealing with the consequences of the decisions that are being made. We must care about human flourishing throughout the world and in God’s providence the Middle East has always been an epicenter that inordinately affects the entire global community. Taking “every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:5) demands being informed and takes deliberate prayerful effort.

[Palestinian Christians] are doing daring, difficult ministry among a majority Muslim population. What’s more they feel abandoned by American evangelicals. Millions of Christians visit Israel every year to see the Christian pilgrimage sites but don’t stop to meet and support their brothers and sisters doing gospel work. This isn’t right. This trip has caused me to pray for and support those who are in the trenches of ministry in one of the most difficult regions of the world.

If you look at an issue like religious liberty, it’s hard to know what to believe or what really happened. (…) Presenting and reporting credible information in some ways is the most important thing we can do. (…) Part of what we want to do is help pastors to focus on key issues… And second, to mobilize pastors and leaders with prayer, with resources. (…) and last to advocate (…) where we can fight for those who are oppressed, poor and marginalized across the developing world.

In June 2016 in St. Louis, Missouri, SBC-affiliated church representatives at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention adopted several breakthrough resolutions, including urging churches to welcome refugees and promoting racial reconciliation. However, when it came to the Middle East, the articles and blogs of David Prince, Daniel Darling and others fell on deaf ears. During SBC’s annual meeting, the church representatives voted to adopt a resolution which was deemed by some Arab Baptist leaders as unbiblical and harmful to their peacemaking efforts. The resolution was staunchly pro-Israel, and condemned the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.”

As Ethics Daily noted, “No previous SBC resolution mentioned the BDS effort. Additionally, the most similar previous resolution, passed in 2002, called for prayer for both Israelis and Palestinians, rather than just Israelis.” This resolution came amid hastening developments in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere where BDS may be gaining ground.

The BDS movement is a growing rights-based global mobilization that seeks to bring about equality, justice and an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories, a military occupation consequent to the 1967 war. In 2009, a group of Palestinian Christian leaders published a document called Kairos, criticizing Islamic extremism and advocating non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation, which they called a sin against God. The Kairos document mirrored the 1985 South African Kairos document. It was endorsed by the leaders of 13 Christian denominations including Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican, referred to “boycott and disinvestment as tools of non-violence for justice, peace and security for all.”

This situation of Palestinian Christians in Israel and in the Occupied Territories was highlighted in 2012 by CBS news’ 60 minutes entitled Christians in the Holy Land. The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. had attempted to prevent the show from airing [1], which highlights the need that Travis Wussow of the ERLC identified: provide credible information and work to know “what really happened”.

Perhaps the ERLC should consider inviting the SBC leadership who recently supported the Israel resolution to visit Israel, Palestine and the Middle East, in pursuit of better understanding of the dynamics of the enduring conflict. Perhaps then they would be further equipped to advocate for religious liberty and social justice, as per the ERLC’s mission, and to fulfill the peacemaking role Christ has called us to in Israel/Palestine in the same way they are seeking to fulfill that role when it comes to racial reconciliation in the U.S.

As respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms erodes globally and in the Arab world, the Body of Christ can play a role to heal and restore justice. In the Middle East, this role begins with listening, visiting, and engaging Arab Christians, and learning.

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[1] Program presenter Bob Simon responded to the Israeli ambassador on air, “Mr. Ambassador, I’ve been doing this a long time. And I’ve received lots of reactions from just about everyone I’ve done stories about. But I’ve never gotten a reaction before from a story that hasn’t been broadcast yet.”

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Thank you Wissam. Sadly, it seems that many more conservative evangelicals are blinded by their pre-determined “return to the land” theology that leads to an essentially Zionist position. They struggle to appreciate the position of Palestinians and cannot come to terms with the fact that this includes those who are brothers and sisters in Christ. I fully agree that the most powerful path to understanding is to visit the land and listen to those who have to live with the daily consequences of Israeli policy. When theology and reality clash it is generally time to re- assess the theology.

I wonder why this return to the land theology is so prevalent among evangelicals in America when there is a counter sound theology that considers the church as ISRAEL. We need to propagate that theology. We need also to proclaim what Arab Christians are going through as a result of Western policy in the ME. One way , as you propose Wissam, is to visit, listen and engage Arab Christians. This is urgent and timely .
Blessings

Who We Are

Founded in 1960 in the hills overlooking Beirut, the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) equips servant-leaders for the ministry challenges arising in the Middle East and North Africa – be it theology, apologetics, communication, pastoral care, ethics, society, or culture.

Our Vision

To see God glorified, people reconciled, and communities restored through the Church in the Arab world.

Our Mission

To serve the Church in our region as it realizes its Biblical mission of having Christ acknowledged as Lord by offering specialized learning resources and equipping faithful men and women for effective service.